"Despite the economic climate, state clean energy funds have continued to demonstrate innovation, support emerging technologies, and advance clean energy markets," says Mark Sinclair, Executive Director of the Clean Energy States Alliance. "The better news is that, after 13 years of data collection, we feel confident that these industry trends are here to stay."

Since 1998, states have supported almost 130,000 projects totalling 4.8 gigawatts of energy. Their $3.4 billion investment in renewable energy projects has leveraged an additional $12.5 billion in private investment.

Large wind accounted for the majority of projects from 2003-2009, but since then the focus has switched to distributed solar. California, mid-Atlantic states and selected states in the West have installed the most renewable energy.

The Clean Energy States Alliance tracks state investment in its National Clean Energy Database, which includes metrics for all renewables - large and small - such as installed cost and capacity, across projects and technologies and over time.